Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!

The Passage

Isaiah 43:1-7 English Standard Version (ESV)

But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
nations in exchange for your life.5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth—7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

The Questions

1) Who are “Jacob” and “Israel”, do they relate to me?

2) What “name” are they called by? What does “you are mine” mean?

3) What do the references to Egypt, Cush, and Seba mean?

4) Verses 5-7 sound pretty cool, but whose offspring are called from all over the earth? And why?

The Findings for Intention

1) Who are “Jacob” and “Israel”, do they relate to me?Jacob refers to Abraham’s son. You know, just like the kids’ song, “Father Abraham”. Israel refers to the name God gave Jacob because He had plans to craft an entire nation from the seed of Jacob (which started with “Father Abraham”).So, these verses are talking straight to the entire nation of Israel, whom God crafted and called and set apart to honor Him.

2) What “name” are they called by? What does “you are mine” mean?The idea of calling Jacob and Israel “by name”shows a form of intimacy. The nation was named by God Himself and despite her sinful wanderings, God claims her as His own. Note that this passage is not talking straight to one single person.

3) What do the references to Egypt, Cush, and Seba mean?If your ancient history recall is a little shaky, clicking on a commentary can be quite helpful to give us context. In the case of Egypt, Cush, and Seba, we learn that during Sennacherib’s invasion of Jerusalem, God came to their aid at the expense of other powerful nations (Egypt, Cush, and Seba). God’s love for His people is extreme and furious!

4) Verses 5-7 sound pretty cool, but whose offspring are called from all over the earth? And why?Doing a little word study, can help us see that “offspring” here refers to the descendants of Israel. And checking into some commentary history helps us see that because of exile and intermarriage and other things, many people of God’s beloved nation Israel had been scattered in all directions. God was pursuing them and bringing them back to Himself; He was intent on redeeming them!

The Everyday Application

1) Who are “Jacob” and “Israel”, do they relate to me?Here Isaiah references Jacob and Israel and behind the scenes, Abraham, but Paul in the New Testament has some mind-blowing information for us! In Romans 4:13-16 Paul makes it pretty clear that whoever believes in God through faith is also a “son of Abraham” because faith is credited as righteousness in Christ! Just as Jacob and Israel refer to an entire nation created because of faith, so can we apply what is being said here to the called out and redeemed body of believers in Jesus! That’s us as the Church, people!

2) What “name” are they called by? What does “you are mine” mean?Jacob and Israel were created, named, and called out by God. We, as New Testament believers have been given the same gift. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 tells us that we are a new creation created in Christ Jesus and called to be set apart as His ambassadors, just as the nation of Israel was. God’s intimacy with Israel points to His own with us as His bride!

3) What do the references to Egypt, Cush, and Seba mean?God’s love knows no bounds and nothing can separate us from it. Romans 8:31-38 details just how great His love is for us and just like God didn’t withhold powerful nations to ransom His nation, God chose not to withhold His own Son for us to redeem us from sin. That is boundless love!

4) Verses 5-7 sound pretty cool, but whose offspring are called from all over the earth? And why?Isaiah’s reference to offspring was clearly Jewish, but in Christ, all believers become the children of God. Gentiles have been “grafted in” as Romans 11:17-26 talks about. One beautifully glorious day when Christ returns to set all things right, every believer, all of God’s offspring or children, will be gathered together. Isaiah even hints at this amazing truth word for word in 43:7, “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Our hope is not dependent on surviving an earthly battle because one day, we will all be brought home!

I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).3) Write down your questions as you think of them.4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

The Community!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into
Sketched II Week One!
Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study andwww.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources. Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Why!

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Sketched II!

Read His Words Before Ours!

The concept of the Trinity, the 3-in-1 Godhead, is so completely beyond our understanding as finite humans, and that’s okay. Isn’t it a great thing that we clearly know it’s impossible for us to comprehend aspects of God? If we could wrap our minds entirely around Him, He wouldn’t be that incredible of a Creator God, would He? (we are studying the Trinity coming up in a few weeks when we Journey into “Creed” – if you’d like to register, click here!)

For as much as we don’t know about Him, there are some very clear things that we do know and a critical component is fleshed out here as we see Jesus once more, lift up His eyes. This time, unlike all the ones we’ve looked at previously in this Journey Theme, Jesus lifts His eyes to God the Father.
Slow down, don’t miss it, look closely at the language here. Jesus is hours before His great sacrifice to reconcile humanity to Himself through His death and later resurrection. And the first thing He does as He enters into this time of deep prayer, is connect, relate, be intimate, eye to eye, with the threefold Godhead; He lifts His eyes.

Soon, His relationship with Father and Spirit will be severed. Their unity, their oneness, their community will be broken as Jesus will bear the weight of the world’s sin in His body on the cross.

The unity here is incredible! Let’s slow our pace as we walk through these words!

Father –> Here it isn’t our Father, as He taught the disciples to pray, it’s simply “Father”. The depth of intimacy in that one, profound title of love, respect, and submission is amazing.

The hour has come –>The hour hadn’t always been right. Self-righteous protestors had been trying to kill Jesus ever since His ministry began (John 7:6, 7:30). No, even before that, since his birth as the coming King (Matthew 2:16-18). History itself had been waiting for this moment. Timing is extremely important to the Godhead; nothing is random or purposeless.For at just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
It wasn’t random here, and His coming return to rescue His Bride, that timing is exact as well. (Matthew 24:36, Acts 1:7)

Glorify Your Son –> This glorification thing was a full community work. Each person of the Trinity had a role to play in God, as a whole, being glorified. Each was working for the good of the other; each person submitting to each other to glorify the other.
It’s an incredible picture of how God designed unity in the church to be!

Unity.
It’s why Jesus came and why He offered Himself as a sacrifice. Jesus is praying that God the Father would glorify Him, that the Spirit could come after and bring hearts into relationship with Him by convicting them of their sin. Look at John 7:39:“Now this He (Jesus) said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Here, John’s words reveal that there is mutual submission within the Trinity. At the time when Jesus was still walking on the earth, the Holy Spirit had neither been given nor received by true believers. Jesus was still physically with them doing His work. The Spirit would come after Him to do His work of pointing people towards Jesus.

That the Son may glorify You –>The goal of God’s whole redemptive plan from beginning to end is glorification of God that the world would see and know Him and choose to be restored in relationship with Him. (as an interesting deeper study, search the Scriptures for every instance of God performing actions in order that “you will know that I am the Lord”)

God acts in our lives to point us back to Him.
He uses the good and the beautiful,
the brokenness and the hurt,
to lift our eyes to His,
that He might bring us restoration and unity with Himself,
just as He exists in unity among the three persons of the Trinity!

Earlier in John, Jesus tells His disciples that the Father is glorified when the Father glorifies the Son. Each person of the Trinity exists to glorify the other and bring complete, perfect, unified glory as one whole Being.God is completely satisfied by submission and unity within the persons of the Trinity.
What’s even more staggering than trying to comprehend the three-fold persons of God, is realizing that we are invited in to delight in that same unity!

Us.
Our messiness, brokenness, shame, sin, illness, financial ruin, our exhaustion, our loneliness, our grief, our chaotic discord.
God, and His fullness, invites us in to unity with Himself, as well as with members of His Bride, the Church.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Borders Week Three! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!Click the above image for today’s Digging Deeper!

Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!

The Passage

Luke 21:1-4 English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

The Questions

1) What did Jesus look up from?

2) What is significant about the giver being a widow?

3) What is Jesus most focused on in this passage and why?

4) Are we asked to give up “everything” we have to live on?

The Findings for Intention

1) What did Jesus look up from?This brief, but powerful teaching moment happens as an “aside” or an “interruption” while Jesus is in the middle of talking to His disciples. Jesus had been engaging with the Sadducees and Pharisees (religious leaders) declaring Himself to be God and confronting their prideful arrogance. He had just turned to his disciples, warning them of those whose religious piety is merely a show, all false pretense without substance, and would actually end in condemnation without salvation.2) What is significant about the giver being a widow?
Throughout Scripture, God instructs His people to specifically care for orphans and widows. In fact, even in the verses right before these, Jesus is using the actions of the scribes who “devour widows’ houses” as an example of their pride and lack of true heart-change. Ironically, just as Jesus was speaking these words, He looks up to see a widow who was giving her everything as an offering. She was a living example of the “heart position” before God that Jesus wanted His disciples to see and grow into.

3) What is Jesus most focused on in this passage and why?
Jesus cared not one bit about the amount that was given….He cared about what that amount displayed about the heart if the giver. Those who “gave from abundance” wouldn’t even miss what they offered up. The widow who gave “out of her poverty”, cared significantly more about honoring God than she cared about honoring herself. She proved that she trusted God far more than she trusted herself. God calls us to honor Him with our wealth; this widow honored Him with her poverty.4) Are we asked to give up “everything” we have to live on?
Yes and no. When we surrender to Jesus, it’s a complete surrender, which includes our finances, our time, our possessions, even our relationships. Choosing Jesus is, in essence, agreeing that He will be a better ruler of our hearts and lives and everything those encompass than we could possibly be. When we look at all we have through that lens, giving generously and living sacrificially move from “burden” to “delight”.

The Everyday Application

1) What did Jesus look up from?
The fact that Jesus was never so distracted by His mission that He failed to miss out on the opportunities around Him is hugely significant for us. Jesus came to earth to teach, preach, make disciples, and offer up Himself as a sacrifice for our sin, and He never closed His eyes to the reality around Him. Let’s pray for God to break off our own “blinders” and remind us that He places teaching moments around us everyday if we will look up!

2) What is significant about the giver being a widow?
When it comes to giving our everything to follow Jesus, no one is exempt from sacrificial, generous living. If even the widow, who was called out in Scripture to be cared for and protected, wasn’t exempt from sacrifice, then neither are any of us. Our life circumstances should not dictate our level of generosity. The widow saw her offering as non-negotiable, and Jesus saw her heart of faith and love, declaring that she was even more generous than all the others who had given. Be challenged to consider how you view sacrificial living!

3) What is Jesus most focused on in this passage and why?
What if we looked at sacrifice and generosity the way that Jesus did? Instead of worrying about dollar amounts, what if we focused instead on our heart motives and decided what to give or how to live based on what Jesus had done in us? Whatever we have, we can choose to honor God with it, or we can honor ourselves; the choice is ours.

4) Are we asked to give up “everything” we have to live on?
Because we know Jesus will handle our money better than us, we are then free to give as generously as the Spirit leads us to at any given moment. Is God calling each of us to become utterly penniless? No, wealth is never condemned in the Bible, but if He did ask you, would you say yes? Which lens are you using to view your wealth, possessions, and time? Yours or the Father’s, who gave it to you in the first place?

I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).3) Write down your questions as you think of them.4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

The Community!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Borders Week Three!
Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study andwww.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources. Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Why!

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Borders!

Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!

The Passage

Ezekiel 37:1-14 English Standard Version (ESV)

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

The Questions

1) What is the context of this passage and who are the characters?

2) Is the question in verse 3 a “trick question”? What are its implications?

3) Why is there a distinction between bodies coming alive without breath and having breath?

4) What is the conclusion of this incredible object lesson?

The Findings for Intention

1) What is the context of this passage and who are the characters?
Jerusalem had been ruined, the temple destroyed, and the Jews have been taken captive and were now displaced in Babylon. The Jews had hit rock bottom; for all practical purposes, they were dead and felt deserted. BUT GOD. He called Ezekiel out to a plain (or valley), and spoke to him. God had neither forgotten nor abandoned His beloved people. The players on the scene are the dry bones, the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord God, and the breath of His Spirit.

2) Is the question in verse 3 a “trick question”? What are its implications?
If we were to visit a morgue and pull out a body that had long since died and asked, “Can this person come alive,” we would scoff. Of course not! For all of our technology and forward strides and theology and psychology, dead is still dead. God’s point in asking this question is to quite vividly show Ezekiel that where man’s ability ends, the Lord’s only begins. Israel had to stop looking for other things to satisfy them, please them, and heal them. They were beyond sick, they were held in captivity and only God could revive them.

3) Why is there a distinction between bodies coming alive without breath and having breath?
Let’s journey farther back to Garden of Eden to get a good look at this question. Genesis 2:7 says, “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” God is the author of life, and it begins and ends with His breath, His Spirit, HE is the source of life. Ezekiel could prophesy all day long, but without the breath of the Lord, those bones were still just dead men…..impressive dead men, but still dead men.

4) What is the conclusion of this incredible object lesson?
The point of the Lord’s miraculous visual lesson is stated twice. Once at the beginning, and once in the conclusion: “That you shall know that I am the Lord.” Only the Almighty can being life where death has reigned, only the Almighty can bring a scattered Israel back home and rebuild them from having been delivered into captivity. The conclusion is the glory of the Lord!

The Everyday Application

1) What is the context of this passage and who are the characters?
What’s probably most interesting to me about this unique scene in biblical narrative is that God intentionally chose to use Ezekiel. God could have made the army of dead men come alive without the prophet’s words. But He didn’t. He wanted His glory to be made known, His truth declared over Israel, and He wanted Ezekiel to play a role in that. Sister! The same is true for us!! The Almighty wants His glory to be made known as He rescues sinners for eternity, He wants the truth of who we were made to be to be sung over us, and He invites us to be part of it! In what ways are you making His glory known and declaring His truth? Are you pushing your comfortable boundaries away to make room for His Spirit to do the unbelievable?!

2) Is the question in verse 3 a “trick question”? What are its implications?
Until we realize exactly how desperate we are without the Lord, we will never be able to understand why we need Him so much. You and I….we are sinners. Not mistakers. Not “good people”. Not well meaning. We are sinners, falling perpetually short of God’s standard for holiness. And we will never, ever attain His favor on our own. That’s dire. That’s desperate. That’s hopelessly dead. And it’s exactly the picture God wants us to see about ourselves. Not to condemn us or walk all over us, but to extend His Good News of grace and love and forgiveness and redemption and freedom. Until we can see how desperate we are, we can’t see how richly gracious God is!

3) Why is there a distinction between bodies coming alive without breath and having breath?
The picture of bones coming to life with sinews and marrow and flesh is mind-blowing, but when you consider that they weren’t “alive” until the Spirit of the Lord fell on them, it’s breathtaking as we see the parallel to today. Those women at the office, those neighbor boys who seem so nice, that elderly man who sits on his front porch, that cashier with the smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes…..these are the dead bones walking around, faking at life, grasping for abundance, but finding emptiness. Until the Spirit’s breath falls on them, making them new and alive to the Lord, they are dead….perhaps impressively adorned on the outside, but still dead. Are you willing to speak life over them?!

4) What is the conclusion of this incredible object lesson?
The same conclusion that was intended for Ezekiel and Israel is the same for you and I right now in our everyday moments. “That you shall know that I am the Lord.” He is the Almighty, He is for us, He is with us, and He delights in inviting us in to what He is doing in order to declare boldly through us to a sick and dying world that He alone is the Lord God Almighty! One, glorious day the Lord God will “open (our) graves, and raise (us) from the dead,” as He returns victoriously, once and for all declaring Death to be the loser and Life to be the eternal victor! Christ will come back, claim those who have trusted in Him as His own, and we will live with Him forever! Truly a miracle working God!

I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).3) Write down your questions as you think of them.4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

The Community!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Borders Week Three!
Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study andwww.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources. Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Why!

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Borders!

Read His Words Before Ours!

My life is empty.
More than empty, it’s destitute, devoid of all life.
I am a sham; nothing about my life has turned out the way I’d dreamed.
I’m abandoned; everyone has left me. I have no one.Emptiness.

I don’t know how this happened…how I got to this point. How I dream of death, yet am terrified of it. Somehow I’m still alive, but I hate my own existence. Was I destined for this? When did my life get so off track that I became susceptible to the demons inside that control my everything? When did everything become meaningless?

Yes, I screech like a wild animal.
Yes, disease ravages my body like an addiction.
Yes, I push everyone away.
I scare them.
People gawk at my shriveled skeleton, they tell their children to stay away.
My greatest agony?No one sees me.
I’m just “that guy”. “That guy” who lives with the dead at the cemetery on the outskirts of town here in the Gerasenes region.
“That guy”. We don’t speak of him. He is nameless. He is dead.

Despite all the things I hate about myself, about my wretched life, and all the things that hurt me, my heart breaks most over the fact that not one will look at me for more than the crazy person on the outside.No one is that brave.

—
This is a true story. The man I’ve written about above, it’s his real biography, but I wonder, how many others fit his story? Unloved, unwelcome, unseen.
So much hurt, so much brokenness, so much heart ache. And no one brave enough to really know, to really see.

But there’s another story, of another man, and his biography changes everything.
—I am life, but I chose death.
I chained myself that I could free others.
I lived in a tomb, like my friend from the Gerasenes.
But I raised myself from the grave, that I might bring life.
I came to free him.
I saw my friend when he was naked, I saw him with bloody self-inflicted wounds, I saw him alone, I saw him destitute and afraid, I saw him hurting others, I saw him diseased,
I saw him. And I freed him! ­­—

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. Mark 5:1-4

I saw coming across the sea, his boat bobbing across the small waves. My demons shuddered, but we turned our fear into hatred and rage. I was utterly uncontrollable when that man stepped onto the land.
Our eyes met, and instantly, I knew something was different here.
This man.He was looking at me.
He saw me.

What would he do? I was terrified, horrified and ashamed of who I was, petrified of who He was. My power, my possession, my brokenness, they were nothing compared to His presence.
With one command from the Master, my demons fled, and I was left there, naked, diseased, wounded, completely broken, lying in the dirt of my cemetery.

But this man didn’t avert His eyes. He knelt down, gripped my bony hand in His strong one, pulled me to my feet, never taking His eyes from mine.
I trembled beneath His knowing, but there was something else there too.
Hope.
Peace.
Forgiveness?
Could it be possible?

The Master brought me clothes, and healed my wounded spirit.
I was coming alive!
I could see clearly after all these years of death and darkness!

I see the townspeople, my parents, my brothers and sisters, they are coming, but they are….afraid?

Ironically, I am not afraid.
What’s more…I see them.

No, they don’t screech like wild animals.
No, they aren’t wracked with physical disease.
No, they don’t live here in the cemetery.But now I see that they are just as dead as I was.

I want them to know the Master! I want them to be wrapped in true life! I want them to know this peace that has pervaded me!

The Master saw me.
He changed me.
I see them; I see others.
I know HE can change them also.
—

I healed my friend in the Gerasenes and he begged to come with me, but I told him no. Instead, I charged him to see others.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And Jesus did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”Mark 5:18-19I see you, Beloved.
I see your chains, I see you avert your eyes, I see the hardness in your face brought on by wounds so deep that no one sees them, but I do. I see your hurt, I see the sins you’ve committed, I see the ones committed against you, I see your regrets, I see your fear, I see the walls you’ve built, I see you. But I also see who I created you to be.And it is so much more than this!

I’m holding out my hand, I’m looking into your eyes, I’m offering my life of fullness in exchange for your death and emptiness.
Will you trade?
Come, find delight in me as I delight in you.
I’ll take you as my Bride, will you take me as your Bridegroom?

And the man went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. Mark 5:20

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Borders Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!Click the above image for today’s Digging Deeper!

Read His Words Before Ours!

Connection.
Relationship.
Eye to eye.
The sense of being right there “with” you.
Seen. Recognized. Known.

It’s the small things in Scripture that deserve so much of our attention.
Small things like the time when authors record that Jesus lifted up His eyes.
Small things that tell us much about our Lord, His intentions, motivations, and priorities.

Throughout the New Testament, God interjects Himself into the everyday happenings of life as Jesus raises His eyes to see beyond.He sees much, He is aware, and He moves in.

It’s never once recorded that Jesus looked up only to turn away.
Jesus looks, and then He acts, fueled with a compassionate heart.

But no life, lived for itself, even catches a glimpse of abundance.
No life spent on self-focus will ever find that satisfaction that Christ talks about.
Jesus calls us to quite literally look up and move in as we walk through our everyday lives.

At the grocery store.
At the coffee shop.
At the playground.
In the pickup line at school.
At church.
At the restaurant.
In the neighborhood.
At the gym.

Jesus’s ministry was just beginning and He’d already earned a reputation as healer and preacher. Wherever He went, crowds followed Him. He performed his first miracle in Cana, just about 9 miles from His hometown in Nazareth, where He turned water into wine, but He was much less popular when He claimed to be the Messiah in Nazareth’s synagogue. Wildly unpopular, Jesus was thrown out with the intention of killing Him, but He escaped the angry mob.

Jesus left Nazareth, traveling the 90 some miles to Capernaum where He would spend the majority of His ministry. About 90 minutes in a car for us, but by foot…it was probably a week of solid walking. Scripture doesn’t record His travel, but I wonder what encounters He had along the way. Did Jesus spend time talking with other travelers, carefully turning the conversation to spiritual matters? Did He see sick? Perhaps He healed them. Perhaps He spent evenings teaching the Torah around fire pits, feeding hungry souls.

Whatever happened on that trip, Jesus was read to engage when He arrived in Capernaum.
And I bet you He was excited!
We find such satisfied delight in doing what we were made for, I have no doubt the same was true for Christ.
Jesus was walking the sandy shores of Galilee that day, crowds hungering for truth, and as He spied the fishing boats of Peter, James, and John, His heart probably started beating faster. He was doing the work He had planned from the beginning of time. He was calling people to Himself, to restore the relationship between humanity and God,and He was going to use ordinary people to do it.

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he (Jesus) looked up to see two brothers, Simon and Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. (Matthew 4:18)

Just two guys. Doing what they had been doing their entire lives. Fishing was in their blood.Except that night had been one of “those nights”.
They had pulled an all-nighter with absolutely nothing to show for it. Exhausted and frustrated, they were washing their nets as Jesus and the crowd came along.

Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he (Jesus) asked him to put out a little bit from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. (Luke 5:3)

The Lord of Creation, crafter of all the fish in the seas, Ruler of time and space, stepped into Simon’s boat and invited him to partner with Him to teach people.

He finished speaking, the crowd was dissipating, and Jesus turns to Simon, “Put into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

So interesting here, are Jesus’s last words…. “for a catch.”He knew exactly what was waiting for Simon.
But the words were missed on the fisherman, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”
Simon expected nothing; he was just respectfully satisfying the Teacher.But oh Jesus! He had so much more!

Out they went to the deep with the sun no doubt high in the sky by now, sweat glistening on their brows, perhaps a little weary tension hung in the air as they rowed.
But it vanished instantly as the nets they dropped caught such a large number that their own boat began to sink as well as their partner’s who had come to help.
Fish flapping everywhere, men straining at breaking nets, boats literally sinking, intense shouting to manage the fish, and Simon fell to his knees, “Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” he wept.

Jesus had looked up, capturing Simon and his fellow fisherman with His divine lordship, enticing them with the raw beauty of His majesty wrapped in loving-kindness.And Simon’s response was worship as he recognized who he was in the light of holiness.

“Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching men”,Jesus spoke with clarity in the middle of Simon Peter’s chaos.

Christ’s ministry on earth began with His eyes that lifted up so He could see who was in front of Him. Then Jesus went all in, out to the deep, into emptiness, bringing life, bringing abundance, then calling Simon Peter to more.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Borders Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!

The Passage

1 Corinthians 15:50-55 English Standard Version (ESV)

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

The Questions

1) Humans are flesh and blood; why does the verse say we cannot inherit God’s Kingdom?

2) What is the mystery that is referred to?

3) What is the good news here?

The Findings for Intention

1) Humans are flesh and blood; why does the verse say we cannot inherit God’s Kingdom?To understand these final verses in chapter 15, we need to back up and see the full context of Paul’s argument. There were many who were questioning the validity of the gospel because they held that it was impossible for the dead to be raised to life, which, of course, the entirety of the Christian faith hinges upon. Paul’s point was that if God allows a kernel of corn to be buried, die in the ground, and then produce 100 times itself, how much more so could that same God who hung the planets and created the solar system design for our bodies to die and then be brought to life in a manner that could support eternal life? Our flesh and blood bodies will die here in this temporal earth, but we will be resurrected and changed in order to live in the coming Kingdom of God forever.

2) What is the mystery that is referred to?The grand mystery that Paul is bursting at the seams to share is that “we will all be changed”! Not slowly, not in the long, laborious groans of childbirth, like we are now slowly being shaped into the image of Christ through His Spirit in the hearts of believers, but in a momentary twinkling of the eye. A trumpet blast loud enough to literally wake the dead and joyously summon the entire collective Bride of Christ will announce a triumphant final victory and our earthly bodies will be transformed into heavenly ones perfectly suited for our new eternal home!

3) What is the good news here?Aside from new bodies and the sure promise of a coming future that will last forever and be far beyond all our imaginings, the greatest news here is that death is swallowed up by life. For. Ever. Death is the sting of the human race. Physical, definitely, but spiritual even more so. And both will be eradicated! Physical perishable bodies exchanged for imperishable perfect ones that we will be able to fully experience true life as it was meant to be lived without the ache of sin or sorrow. No grief, no heartache, no abuse, no injustice, no ugly pride or wounding shame. No Death. No Sin. Only sweet, unadulterated grace, truth, and freedom!

The Everyday Application

1) Humans are flesh and blood; why does the verse say we cannot inherit God’s Kingdom?So much about what happens in life doesn’t add up. Disasters, sickness, devastating loss, wounds, and deep heartache are all the “norm” in this broken world. My spirit longs so deeply for restoration when I see all the shattered hearts around me, and I’m so gratefully reminded that we were indeed made for so much more. We weren’t created for brokenness. All the senselessness parts of life are opportunities to be encouraged, even in dark sorrow, that the Father will bring change. Justice is coming. Righteousness will win. We will be set free to love Him as He has so loved us! Take heart, beloved!

2) What is the mystery that is referred to?I don’t know about you, but there’s a great deal of encouragement offered to me in the promise of newness! A new body that will be able to keep step with all the new heart passions and interests and loves that we were designed to live out that couldn’t be experienced in this sin-wrecked skin of humanity is incredible to think about! To love fully and perfectly isn’t possible with the restrictions of this human “tent” of a body as Paul liked to refer to himself, but eternal glorified change is a guaranteed promise!

4) What is the good news here?This incredible good news of being remade for eternity is rooted in the solid truth of Christ’s own death and resurrection. He swallowed death with His own death. He defeated sin with His own sinlessness. He is our blessed hope and sure confidence. He has proven Himself trustworthy, and He invites us in to life. Deep life. Not to keep this abundance to ourselves, but to share it! My sweet beauties, we have been given this imperishable treasure (of Jesus Christ) in jars of clay (that’s our perishable bodies), that we might share Him with the world while there’s still time before that trumpet sounds! We’ve been invited in to much, let’s extend that embrace as far as the Father takes us and as long as we have breath in these perishable lungs!

I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).3) Write down your questions as you think of them.4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

The Community!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into
Flourishing Week Three!
Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study andwww.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources. Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Why!

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Flourishing!

Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!

The Passage

2 Timothy 2:1-9 English Standard Version (ESV)

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!

The Questions

1) What is the main take-away from this passage?

2) Who are considered “faithful men”?

3) What do the illustrations of soldier, athlete, and farmer point to?

4) How is the word of God “not bound”?

The Findings for Intention

1) What is the main take-away from this passage?Preach the full gospel faithfully. All the time. No matter the life circumstances. Let the entirety of the gospel be your centering point for life, regardless of cost. “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead…” Paul repeats the gospel so many times in His letters to believers because it’s the epicenter of our daily life and ministry. The gospel dictates how we are to live out love and embrace God’s very fullest. Christ has conquered our sin, freed us from slavery to the Enemy, brought us into life, and condemned us no more! The gospel is worth everything!

2) Who are considered “faithful men”?Paul insists that Timothy, as a pastor, entrust this same entire gospel truth to other “faithful men”, whose qualifications are that they will be able to “teach others also”. Teaching, pastoring, and leading aren’t meant to be one-man (or woman) shows. Paul wants Timothy to multiply himself by making sure that he is bringing along other leaders who are learning from him. Faithful leaders who will hold unswervingly to the gospel; leaders who will make living and sharing the gospel their life’s essence.

3) What do the illustrations of soldier, athlete, and farmer point to?Paul frequently used common-day illustrations to help his audience better identify with a truth he was teaching. A “good soldier” would focus on the greater good of his mission and his fellow warriors than focusing on his own pain and suffering. He or she would keep the focus of the gospel as being central and let it be the sieve through which all else of life flowed, regardless of deception or discord happening around him or her. Paul tells Timothy to hold onto truth, to not be swayed by deception, and to take the high road in treating people with love. Using the example of an athlete who competes by the rules, Paul is telling Timothy to hold to the whole gospel and not compromise its truths. Grace alone, faith alone, not by works. The hard working farmer is used to illustrate the dedication needed to be gospel focused. Paul reminds Timothy that much will be rewarded for those who make the gospel their way of life day in and day out.

4) How is the word of God “not bound”?Again, the “word of God” refers to the whole message of the gospel….we are sinners hopelessly separated from a perfectly holy God, but who were offered boundless mercy when Jesus lived the perfect life for us and died the death we deserved in order to give us the eternal life we could never earn. Despite earthly circumstances, which in Paul’s case meant imprisonment, beatings, and eventual death, the good news of freedom in Christ will continue in its power given by God. Earthly rulers have been trying to squelch the truth of Jesus since time began, but it isn’t possible because of the power of the gospel and the Living God behind its message!

The Everyday Application

1) What is the main take-away from this passage?Isn’t preaching the gospel for, like, actual pastors? Preaching as in shepherding a church; yes, that’s a special calling of “pastor”, but every single believer who has chosen Christ as their Savior, is given the task of sharing the gospel. Preaching its full weight of grace and truth to ourselves every day, to our children, and to those we have been given influence over is our responsibility in Christ. Its fullness should season our conversations, our Facebook posts, our texts, our conflicts, our choice of churches, and the way we talk to people at the store. No, it doesn’t mean literally every word must be the gospel, but that our lives shine forth the brilliant love of Jesus Christ displayed on his incredible grace coupled with His unshakeable truth!

2) Who are considered “faithful men”?As we grow in Jesus, multiplicity is for us as well, whether we are a leader in the church or not. There will always be people around us we can help train up for godliness. Discipling others is walking along with someone else in life and pointing them faithfully to Jesus Christ. Who are you discipling? And if you aren’t, pray about who the Lord might be calling you to walk more intentionally alongside!

3) What do the illustrations of soldier, athlete, and farmer point to?Holding to the gospel takes hard work, determination, constant diligence, and living in gospel-centered community to be held accountable. A life that is gospel centered will not always be popular, and choosing to love others the way Jesus loves us is often costly and risky. Paul’s teaching here should prompt us to examine how highly we value the gospel and how closely we are willing to follow Jesus’ example of loving others with truth and grace. Are we willing to suffer for the gospel? Willing to lay aside our own pride and agenda for the sake of the gospel? Willing to constantly be testing what we believe to see if it holds up to biblical truth and accuracy?

4) How is the word of God “not bound”?Beautifully, God invites believers to partner with Him in sharing the good news of freedom in Jesus Christ. He invites us to invite others to share in this life of abundant grace. He designed His plan of welcoming others to His table to be placed in our hands. Remarkably, it’s when we take seriously this call to tell others the gospel that we find fullness of purpose and abundant life. Graciously, despite our human failings, weaknesses, and our tongue-tied words, the gospel is still unbound. God will use our efforts to bring others into His kingdom, despite ourselves! Are you sharing?!

I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).3) Write down your questions as you think of them.4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

The Community!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into
Flourishing Week Three!
Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study andwww.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources. Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Why!

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Flourishing!

Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!

The Passage

1 Timothy 6:17-21 English Standard Version (ESV)

17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.
Grace be with you.

The Questions

1) Why is there a comparison between wealth and God?

2) If someone is generous in their giving, will this earn them eternal life?

3) What is the “irreverent babble” Paul is referring to?

4) What does it mean to “swerve from the faith”?

The Findings for Intention

1) Why is there a comparison between wealth and God?As in Mark 10:17-31 and numerous other places in both Old and New Testaments, Paul is noting the human tendency to become dependent on something that cannot be trusted to sustain us, money. Wealth can be wiped away much easier than we’d like to think, and whether we have plenty or are pinching pennies, it’s much easier to set our focus on those numbers in our bank account than it is to gaze into the glories of God.

2) If someone is generous and philanthropic in their giving, will this earn them eternal life?
This passage takes careful reading, so be sure to slow down and pay attention to the sentence structure as well as the greater context of the chapter. Paul’s entire letter is written to Timothy as he pastors on the island of Crete. His instructions are for Timothy and the believers in his church, so it is a given that those who “are rich in this present age” were already Christ-followers. These verses are a warning for Timothy to pass on to the materially wealthy of Timothy’s church, not in how they could earn favor with God or salvation, but in how they could live a fuller, more abundant life both now and in the eternal life to come. See also Matthew 6:19-20 for more teaching on laying up treasure in Heaven for the believer.

3) What is the “irreverent babble” Paul is referring to?
In Paul’s day, religious ideas like Mysticism (experiencing God/knowing truth is discovered inside yourself) and Gnosticism (salvation could only be gained through a secret knowledge) were springing up everywhere and false teaching was constantly threatening to infiltrate truth. Paul refers to all of these teachings as “irreverent babble” here and uses similar language in his other letters.

4) What does it mean to “swerve from the faith”?
The idea of “swerving” here is tightly associated with distraction. Paul references this same idea in chapter 1, where he notes that small, seemingly important things, end up undermining a life that could have otherwise done much for the kingdom. This “swerving from the faith” isn’t a warning that you might “lose” your salvation, but rather that there is danger in becoming ineffective in your faith as a believer. Again, Paul’s letters to Timothy are overflowing with sage warnings. Often, Satan ambushes us not with temptation to fall into “big” sins, but by simple distraction, slowly leading us away from intimacy with God and effectiveness in His kingdom. 2 Timothy 2:16-17

The Everyday Application

1) Why is there a comparison between wealth and God?Humanly, we see finances as being real and “needed” for daily life, and the Lord as “supplemental”, if even that. Don’t believe me? Take a look at your day. How often have you considered buying something today or had a bill go through electronically or ran to Target for one more thing? Compare it to how often you cried out to Jesus, opened your Bible, repeated a verse to memorize it, or prayed for God to show you more of His glory? In the end, “riches” aren’t just limited to our finances, but anything we set our eyes on that deceives us into thinking that it holds “real life”. There’s only ONE that holds out deep, true, abundant living and it’s the Lord Jesus Christ. Where is your heart focus? Are you ready to truly flourish? Sink your feet into the rich grace of God and find the life you’ve been aching to discover!

2) If someone is generous and philanthropic in their giving, will this earn them eternal life?
Before you mentally “check out” and think these verses don’t apply to you because you aren’t “wealthy”, consider Randy Alcorn’s statement, “if you have any money saved, a hobby that requires some equipment or supplies, a variety of clothes in your closet, two cars (in any condition), and live in your own home, you are in the top 5% of the world’s wealthy.” You, my friend, are exactly who this verse applies to. For more mind-blowing statistics, check here. While being generous with time, giftings, and finances will not earn us eternal life, it will most definitely “lay a good foundation for the future (i.e. eternity). How all of that works out in the life to come or what it looks like, we can only theorize, but we do know for sure that what we do now, today, has an eternal affect!

3) What is the “irreverent babble” Paul is referring to?
Truth is under fire just as much today, if not more so, than it was in Timothy’s, so this letter we are reading through in the 21st century is incredibly relevant. We would be wise to heed its warnings! As you study God’s Word, listen to sermons, attend church programs, read blogs, and shape your beliefs about God and eternity, are you continually testing the basis of those beliefs? Deception slips in quietly, in countless forms. The Enemy is always prowling, ready to deceive us, leading us away from the Beloved Savior. Be on guard!

4) What does it mean to “swerve from the faith”?
Distractions are small and seemingly insignificant at the time, but lead to an entire life being thrown off course if they aren’t caught. A simple example is me sitting down with the intention of spending quiet time with God. Bible open, I think of a question, write it down, and the dog needs out, then I realize I forgot to respond to that email, then one of my kids is needing a band-aid, then I’m thinking about dinner and whether or not I need to go to the store…Oh, what was I reading? Distraction leaves me with a busy day, full of opportunities to either lean into Jesus or trust my own abilities, but now I haven’t aligned my heart with the Father’s before I even begin. That shirt is sure cute with those swirls and floral print. “Do what makes you happy” its script entices me, but is it true? If I follow that mantra, will I find “real life” that Paul is talking about here in Timothy? Simple distraction. Join me by examining your life and teaching, “Keep a close watch on yourself and the teaching. Persist in this!” (1 Timothy 4:16a)

I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).3) Write down your questions as you think of them.4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

The Community!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into
Flourishing Week Two!
Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study andwww.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources. Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Why!

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
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Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Flourishing!

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Questions or Comments?

The Lord God is the self-naming God. He looked to no one else to define Him. Beautifully, as He reveled Himself to us, He chose a name that encompassed the entirety of His all-consuming presence. I Am. Yahweh. The post The GT Weekend! ~ He Week 1 appeared first on Gracefully Truthful.